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Can A Remodeled Bathroom Help Sell My Home?

Since bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens are among the rooms where people spend most of their time, the answer is, yes. But not every remodeled bathroom will help your home sell and it might not recoup the entire investment cost.

However, according to the Cost vs. Value report by Remodeling Magazine, the return on a bathroom remodel investment averaged approximately 62 percent for the years from 2006 to 2012. Not bad! But it gets better.

In 2013, the numbers started to increase, inching up to about 72 percent already for 2014. A room addition is showing 60 percent return on investment.

With this in mind, before you jump into your remodeling project, keep in mind that renovating a home is a big step to undertake. So, you should give it careful consideration. If you’re planning to stay in your home for a while and then looking to sell it in the future, say maybe before you retire and potentially downsize, a remodel now can be worth it because you’ll get to live in the home and enjoy the upgrades before you sell.

But what about if you’re planning to sell in the very near future? Should you remodel? That depends. If there are several homes for sale in your neighborhood and little distinction between yours and the others listed, some custom upgrades and features may likely help sell your home faster than the others. The new amenities can help attract attention and also increase the value and, ultimately, the sales price.

When you upgrade and do even minor renovations, you’re likely to attract buyers who are looking for a home to live in for a while. They tend to like when the home is move-in ready with upgrades. When a home isn’t kept up, you often attract buyers who are real estate investors and are planning to flip the property. So because they often expect to have to put some cash into to fix it up, they will strive to get a lower price for the home because they have to clean up, repair, and renovate it in order to make a profit.

Whatever the case, remodeling your bathroom, bedroom or kitchen because you plan to stay in the home for a while or because you want to improve it and make it more attractive to buyers, don’t cut corners. If you try to do the remodel yourself, and it doesn’t improve your home, you could make it much worse and it could become costly just to restore the renovation project.

Keep your remodel appealing to the masses. No purple rooms, no black shag carpet. Make the upgrades energy-efficient and eco-friendly and you’re sure to interest many buyers. You don’t have to make a room renovation so complicated as knocking down walls or tearing up tile. Sometimes simple renovations like a fresh coat of paint can go a long way - making it feel like a brand new room.

If you do plan to do a larger remodel, make sure you include good lighting, especially in the bathroom and kitchen projects. Updated appliances are also very attractive to buyers, even if you only change the faucet and the shower head. Also, a dual sink in a home with a single bathroom can be a buyer’s dream. It’s always good to have extra room in bathrooms and kitchens. Finally, before you remodel, talk to your real estate agent and remodeling experts for advice.

Phoebe Chongchua is an award-winning journalist, an author, customer service trainer/speaker, and founder of Setting the Service Standard, a customer service training and consulting program offered by Live Fit Enterprises (LFE) based in San Diego, California. She is the publisher of Live Fit Magazine, an online publication that features information on real estate/finance, physical fitness, travel, and philanthropy. Her company, LFE, specializes in media services including marketing, PR, writing, commercials, corporate videos, customer service training, and keynotes & seminars. Visit her magazine website: www.LiveFitMagazine.com.

Phoebe's articles, feature stories, and columns appear in various publications including The Coast News, Del Mar Village Voice, Rancho Santa Fe Review, and Today's Local News in San Diego, as well as numerous Internet sites. She holds a California real estate license. Phoebe worked for KGTV/10News in San Diego as a Newscaster, Reporter and Community Affairs Specialist for more than a decade. Phoebe's writing is also featured in Donald Trump's book: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying Foreclosures. She is the author of If the Trash Stinks, TAKE IT OUT! 14 Worriless Principles for Your Success.